The day before my friend Karen and I went to the in Scarsdale to meet for breakfast, we were reminiscing about all the good places that are no longer around that we loved to go. There is something very comforting about a place that is familiar; it is like being with famiglia.
That is exactly how we felt at the Parkway Coffee Shop, which has been around for decades. Michael Cucolo, from Mt. Kisco, our waiter is part of this family dynasty. His cousin was waitressing also the morning we were there and his uncle was at the front of the café. The photos on the wall of happy smiling children were all family members. I loved it. All the customers were regulars, sitting in booths or at the counter, talking and laughing with the cook, waiter and waitress.
Karen and I settled into a booth. Our order for this morning was French toast with strawberries, sweet potato pancakes with sausage and a bacon, Swiss and onion omelet with home fries and multi-grain toast.
First off the coffee was strong. Karen liked it, but I wasn’t thrilled with it. However, with enough milk and sugar substitute, it was doable. The sweet potato pancakes definitely were good, and you could taste the sweet potatoes, but it wasn’t overbearing. The French toast was average, but unfortunately, they were out of strawberries. Maple syrup was offered at an additional cost, but we forgot to order it. The omelet was excellent and cooked just the way I like it—well done. The onions were sautéed which was a nice touch. The home fries made from red potatoes were good and crunchy with just the right amount of seasoning. No real butter was served, so I had my toast dry. Funny thing about the toast: it was wheat and not the multi-grain I ordered.
Michael was the kind of waiter you always want to serve you—patient, pleasant, smart and, most importantly, honest. When I asked him about my toast, he just smiled and said they may have substituted the whole wheat for the multi-grain. We ended our breakfast with a very nice conversation with Michael, who seemed very at ease talking to customers.
Our bill was $37. 50, which is pretty much normal for breakfast. Just to add a note, even though across the street we saw two empty store fronts, we feel confident that the Parkway Coffee Shop isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and that my friends is a good thing!
Parkway Coffee Shop
52 East Parkway
Scarsdale
914-723-9008
Mariann Raftery, creator of Somebody's Mom blog, cooks up comfort food recipes for families here at home, as well as sending homemade cookie care packages to our American soldiers overseas. Somebody's Mom Cooking videos at http://www.youtube.com, search "Thesomebodysmom".
